Second Chance
by Eia San
Summary: What if Furet had struggled past death for just a little while longer? What if Shannon had wandered a different route, alone that night? What if fate gave true love a second chance? Scrapped Princess
1. Prelude

The cold rain sliced down upon him like a million accusations against his skin

**Prelude**

The cold rain sliced down upon him like a million accusations against his skin. He tried to ignore the sickening sensation he felt as heaven's water flowed past his wounds, taking the blood with it to pour in thick ebbs from his body. He was dying. This knowledge embedded itself in his heart like a poisonous barb and he thought he might howl for the injustice of it all. "I can't die…not now…not when she needs me…"

He had heard the soldiers heavy foot falls retreat what seemed like an age ago, disinterested in seeing the end of this lifeless sport, knowing just as well as he did that his wounds were mortal. Yes mortal, as frail and as indispensable as an unprotected leaf falling from its mother branch. Had he truly thought he could make a difference?

Furet crawled onward, on hands and knees upon the jutting cobblestones of the deserted city street. He couldn't accept that this was the end, didn't want to let his heart believe that he would not see her again, even for one last time.

But even as his mind struggled to keep control of the situation his body let go, arms buckling beneath him until his stony face met with the equally dead stony road. "Please…do not let it end like this…" he pleaded to the nameless night.

--

Shannon pulled his traveling coat tighter about his frame, shivering as his umbrella shifted to let a large collective rain drop run from its brim and slide threateningly down his neck. The foul weather seemed to suit his darkening mood as he brooded over the superfluous time he spent in wandering these endless roads. She was never waiting at the end of any of them like the pot of gold that hides at the elusive rainbows end. He had forgotten to even count the days anymore, in the end it all felt like a single struggle against time.

So absorbed in his misery, Shannon almost let his next foot step fall onto a prone body marring the usually desolate street. His eyes widened as he took in the dying body, blood swirling out from beneath him to stain even the shadows.

"Oi." He exclaimed as he knelt down beside the body to gently shake the man's shoulder. His red umbrella fell listlessly to ground as Shannon leaned over to pull the injured man from the harsh lonely road. "Oi, are you all right?" he felt the idiocy in his question, but knew naught of what else to say to an injured man. He looked speculatively at the arrows that protruded from the man's body like some masochistic ornamentation and was considering their removal when the man spoke.

"I can't die…not yet…she is all that is worth…protecting in this world." Shannon felt his body go cold at the man's ominous words, and in his mind a bright slip of a girl smiled up at him with all the trust of the world in the curve of her lips and the subtle trickle of laughter in her voice.

He looked down at the dying man again, a man who was near the same age as him. A man who had someone out there he was searching for, a man with a memory just like he had. Shannon looked behind him apprehensively, but there was nothing there. Not even Cz was ghosting his steps this desolate night. He had naught to his name to offer the dying man either, no bandages, no wisdom, nothing to help save him….unless-

"Zefiris. Oi, Zefiris!" Shannon began to pluck the degenerate arrows from the stranger's body as he called out, trying not to flinch as each weapon made a foul sucking noise as it was pulled free. After the fourth arrow he began to wonder how this man was still alive at all. _"Zefiris!!"_

"Master." Her quiet reply sounded foreign in the rain drenched night and as he turned to look up at his subordinate Shannon felt a trickle of doubt itch at the back of his throat. "Zefiris…can you…" words fled him. He looked down at the man in his arms with desperation as he felt the body beneath him slacken in defeat. Was he already too late?

"He is dying." The AI stated this without emotion, her cold factual voice making something in Shannon snap. "I know that! I know he is dying and I cannot even help him, what good is all this magic and prophecy in the world if I cannot even save one person!"

Shannon went pale as his own words reached his ears. Who was he truly talking about saving? What was this anger that was threatening him? He didn't know, all he did understand was that he wanted this man to live. He felt as if all his efforts were availing him nothing, but this last thing he didn't want to fail at. He was tired of feeling defeated.

"Zefiris, you can heal this man can't you? You have done something similar before." Shannon looked up at the hovering apparel before him and was surprised by the shock that flickered across her deceptively young features.

"He is not dead just yet; my analysis shows that his heart will fail in approximately 37.84 seconds."

"Then help him!" Shannon shouted.

"Is that a command?"

"Yes!!"

Zefiris seemed to move with an emphasized tardiness as she reached out a single small hand to place it upon the stranger's chest. Her elongated fingers were splayed out across his broad breast, the tiny crescents of her nails shining with the death rattle that rocked them. She spoke again with that dead voice.

"The third arrow wound is fatal; it has punctured his left lung and is allowing blood to-"

"Just hurry Zefiris! Can you fix his lung?" Shannon tried to keep his patience but within his minds eye he could see the seconds falling away, how long had she said till his heart would stop?

Shannon trained his eyes upon the strangers face and watched closely as the foreign eyes seemed to glaze over with a knowing solemnity. He wanted to tell this man it would be alright, but he didn't have the heart to say words he had no knowledge to be truth. What would come was something only Zefiris had any control over. Or perhaps, even if there was a sentient being that perused their world from above, the gods would favor this night and this chance meeting and alter a dying man's fate.

--

**I couldn't find any ****communities for Scrapped Princess Fictions….might consider trying to form one or such. But anyways, for now this fiction will just float around in the nether space of my profile until I can figure out what to do with it. If anyone knows about a community or thinks it is a good idea to form one let me know. Otherwise thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Ah…I hope it doesn't rain." Leo looked up at the foreboding clouds that lined the sky a pessimistic gray. His armor chafed something awful in the wet and with another mile still to go he could not decide if that distance were altogether too long or too short. For once he did not hasten to the Cassul's.

Leo patted his mount's neck absently in misery. "What ever am I going to say to her when we arrive?" He thought of the ridiculously frivolous Pacifica and the news he had to carry to her and wondered how she would take it…. if she would even take it at all.

It had been almost three weeks now since he had seen the ghost of his past at the capital. Furet had haunted his dreams for so long, it seemed almost characteristic of the ex-soldier to re-appear before him just as his nightmares had subsided.

On one ordinary evening he had gone to an ordinary enough pub to dine at an ordinary enough meal. But the face he had spotted as he had begun his meal had been something more than extra-ordinary. Leo had sat there with a spoon full of stew just suspended before his open mouth, gaping ridiculously across the room at the tall dark man that sat quietly at the end of the bar, sipping his drink and minding his own business in the calm of the twilight hour. But Leo had changed all of that.

"FURET!!" He wondered briefly whose face had looked more ridiculous, the sprung phantom or the shocked patron, but either way it was probably lucky that the bar was almost empty at that hour. The dream became reality.

"L-Leo…" Furet's hands had begun to shake as he turned towards the knight. The contents of the cup he gripped sloshing over the rim, as Leo smelt the spicy tang of sāke. A minute had passed as the two men stared across the room at one another in disbelief before Leo had gathered the strength and wit to stand. His legs took him over in trembling steps to perch on the stool beside the dead man. Or should that be 'thought-to-be' dead man.

"Furet…Furet…" Leo had burst out laughing, a hollow sound that echoed strangely in the empty tavern. He had gripped Furet's arm in excitement, squeezing it every few seconds to convince himself he was real. "We all…I thought you were…" He couldn't say it; even then he could not say he had thought he had rode off to let Furet meet with his death. The words were just too terrible to be uttered past his chivalrous lips. At the remembrance Furet had seemed to gather his wits again and the shocked zeal in his eyes had begun to quiet into his usual stoic expression. "No…I didn't."

Words. There had been thousands of them swimming through Leo's mind but he could not find himself to utter a single one, and neither could Furet it seemed, for they had sat there in silence simply overwhelmed by the impossibility of the situation. This meeting had only ever occurred in their dreams.

But eventually Leo had let go of Furet's arm and the dark man had lifted his cup, a little unsteadily, to gulp greedily at the contents. And when at last the silence had eaten up the doubt between them Leo had spoken once more. "What happened Furet?"

"I think that is my line. I heard stories about what happened to the 'Scrapped Princess' but of course none are ever sure. There are as many tales of that day than there are hairs on your head. Pamela, is she…"

"Pacifica is fine, but I don't think even she would be able to tell the story of that day with total confidence."

Leo had watched Furet's face as he told the old soldier all he had seen that fateful day. But his friends face did not change through the entire recount, not even when Leo had spoken of Pacifica's near death, the telling of which almost brought tears to his own eyes. He knew his explanation was flawed and noted how Furet lifted his eyebrows when he told him 'Pacifica just disappeared when she closed her eyes' and 'when she reappeared her wounds were gone as were the princes'. He almost thought that Furet wasn't going to believe his story at all but as he finished his tale and stumbled off into silence a knowing smile twitched at the corner of Furet's mouth. "Just like her to disappear into thin air and make everyone worry about her."

"But Furet! What happened to you? I thought that you…"

Furet signaled to the bar maid and she brought him a fresh cup. He sipped at it tentatively before he took a deep breath and spoke again. "I don't know really. I _thought _I was dead when I first awoke after that night. The pain in my body was certainly a protest against that. I awakened in a church of Mauser of all places. The priestess said I had slept for almost twelve days and was just about to give up on me ever coming to again. I had been taken there with the hundreds of others who were wounded in the battle at the citadel. But by then the fighting had ceased and the scrapped princess' sixteenth birthday had both come and gone."

Leo had waited for the story to continue but Furet seemed content to sit and sip at his drink. "But…well what happened after that?" He shrugged noncommittally, "I volunteered for the church to repay the debt of caring for me then…. well I came back here for work."

Leo had gripped the edge of the bar in consternation. Was that it? Waking up and beginning back to where he had left off…perhaps it had been the great drama with Pacifica that had bred an idea that Furet's adventures since then would have been equally as exciting and dangerous. And there was another issue that sat ill in Leo's stomach but he was reluctant to voice it. Even now he could feel that old jealousy creeping back.

"She cried." Furet had looked up at him then and Leo wished he hadn't said anything from the look that came into those dark eyes. "W-when her memory came back…Pacifica forgot all about being Pamela. But still…. that night I didn't know for what her tears were for. I thought perhaps I had said something to upset her. But I know now, she cried because a part of her still remembered you. Why did you never try to find her?"

Leo caught the guilt that twitched at the corner of Furet's eye but he didn't care. He wanted to know why…. no _how_ he could have just left and never tried to find her again. Furet just shook his head sadly and took another sip from his drink. "It wasn't that simple"

"Why not? With all the resources you seemed to possess I don't think it would have been difficult for an ex-blackhawk to find one girl."

"It wasn't just about finding her. It was more complicated than that." Leo was relentless as he pushed him further. "You couldn't have known her memory was gone so why else?"

"It just wasn't the right time."

"With everything that had happened I think it would have been as good a time as any to-"

Furet's fist had come down to thump menacingly on the counter before him. "How can you sit there and say that! Do you know what I am? I am an ex-_murderer!_ I was useful to her as protection but what use do you think I would have in her life now? You think I never thought about finding her? I thought about it everyday! But it was useless to think about it. What kind of a place would one such as I have in a young and innocent life? Do you think I could just slip right in there beside the chivalrous Leo or the ridiculously naïve Winia? Pamela…"

His voice cracked treacherously on her name. He took a minute to compose himself, the calm façade fell back into place and he went on as if he had never let slip that well of emotion. "Pacifica has no need for a felon and a traitor in her life. I have no wish to help her remember those days…or me for that matter."

That had been it, conversation done. Furet had picked up his drink and dismissed the conversation without another word. They had spoken of other trifle things, but mainly sat in silence. Leo had no more energy to push Furet further. He didn't have the heart to hear that voice crack again.

He had parted with a promise to visit again before he left the city. But he never had.

Leo lifted his weary head as he spotted the little bend in the road up ahead. It was a treacherous corner, one had to look for it carefully or an unwary traveler might just pass it by. He reigned in his mount and journeyed up the little trail slowly, his thoughts still turning turmoil in his head.

"Leo!" His head snapped up at the sound of her voice. Even with the demons in his heart Leo could not help but smile as he saw Pacifica waving frantically from beside the barn. She was just as radiant and beautiful as ever.

"Good day Pacifica!" He called out as he dismounted. She trotted up to meet him, her cheeks flushed from the humid day. "What a surprise I got to see Leo coming up the lane! I will have to tell Raquiel to put on some extra food for dinner."

Leo waved his hands apologetically, "Please don't bother yourselves too much I just wanted to pop in for a little while before…Pacifica?"

"Hmm?" she had bent down to continue disassembling a milk crate but straightened up at the serious tone in his voice. The demons in his heart would not let rest this topic that had been started with Furet. He had to know. "Miss Pacifica…Are you happy now?"

"I guess so…its peaceful and every day is lots of fun. It's not all wine and roses but still…its not like I need to decide that now though right?" She looked thoughtful for a moment as she pondered her own words. "Maybe what matters is that when you're on your deathbed you can think to yourself, "You know maybe my life wasn't half bad." I'm glad I was born the scrapped princess. I had to go through lots of painful stuff, but I went to all kinds of places and met all sorts of people. And if I wasn't the scrapped princess, I never would have met you Leo or…"

She trailed off, as if some other force beyond her would fill in the last part of her sentence. And in Leo's heart it really did. It was then that he noticed the strange ornament hanging at Pacifica's waste. "Ah, this thing?" Pacifica laughed, noticing the trail of Leo's gaze. "It always keeps me safe." He looked at the wooden city bath key seriously as an understanding dawned within him.

Leo had planned to ask her to marry him again. He had had the thought to do so in his mind before he had run into Furet. But those plans seemed suddenly useless in light of what he now had to face. He had always believed in destiny, and now he felt its pull tug him towards the path he knew in his heart he had to take. He loved Pacifica and knew that she loved him too in her own way. But there was a part of her that, despite her subconscious burying the memories away, had never forgotten Furet. He had been the one to truly give his life to protect hers, and she had kept his memento at her side always. He would be damned if he was going to stand in the way of destiny.

Before he had even truly realised what he was doing, Leo had mounted his horse and was turning it away from the Cassul house. "Leo wait, you have only just arrived. Where are you going?"

Leo barely paused to turn back; so urgent did he feel this responsibility. "Don't worry Pacifica I will be back." And as he spurned Parrabellum to move faster down the trail from the homestead and back towards the city the sky finally opened up and let the rain fall.

--

**I just wanted to clear something up about names. As you probably already guessed 'Furet' and 'Fulle' are the same name/person. I didn't realise that some English translations had different names. The box set I bought of Scrapped Princess uses 'Furet' and wikipedia uses both spellings as well so I hope no one was too confused about it. I also want to thank all the readers, I didn't expect any response considering I haven't found a C2 to put this fiction in yet but I will try again soon. Thanks again for reading.**

**Eia**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_He ran. Feet pounding loudly in the empty darkness that enshrouded his escape. His feet clacking against the hard ground echoed in the deafening silence as his breath came in short harsh __gasps__**. Don't**__** stop. Not now. Keep moving. Don't die.**__ Up ahead there was a break in the monotonous surroundings, the darkness parted to reveal the allusion of golden thread. His legs ached with his exertions but he knew if he stopped it would be the end of him. So on he ran, forever running towards a perpetual state of vacancy. There was nothing behind him and nothing before, yet there was still that tantalizing hint of something colorful that flitted through the darkness, the smell of something exotic that aided his determination. He ran on. _

_His lungs were on fire and he could feel the muscles in his legs tearing under his flesh. He tried to slow__ down but as soon as his feet relented from their constant rhythm the ground itself began to heave beneath him. He stopped altogether as a cry erupted from his burning lungs. His feet were falling beneath the hard road as the stones that had previously supported him began to shift and merge around him like the cracked pieces of a broken plate. He looked up, searching desperately in the darkness for that destination he had been dreaming of and then it came to him. From the darkness she emerged, folding back the shadows to reveal a cascade of golden tresses and a pair of pristine blue eyes that danced merrily before him. He tried to call to her but her name fell away from his lips. He knew her!  
H__e opened his mouth to call her forth but it was too late. The arrow tore through his chest, ripping at his heart and dragging his life right out from his fragile breast. As he fell back into the darkness he lifted a hand to try once more to grab at the future that was eluding him, and cried out into the starless night. "Pamela!"_

Furet leapt up from his bedding as a loud thud resounded through his small apartment. He was sweating profusely as he struggled desperately to draw a full breath. The tendrils of his dream were still lingering behind the lids of his eyes and when he blinked he was sure she danced through his mind. What was happening to him?

The sound of an urgent fist rapping against his door brought him back and Furet struggled to his feet in the gloom of pre-dawn light. He was grateful to whatever visitor had roused him from his nightmare but even so he hesitated with his hand on the catch. Who would come calling at this hour of the morning?

"Furet are you there? Open up its me Leo!" _Ah, of course it would be_. Furet thought sardonically. He had to resist the urge to simply turn away from Leo's incessant knocking but despite everything he was not that malicious towards the boy. He gave himself another second to compose, wiping the cold sweat from his brow as he turned the lever on the door, scowl already in place. "What the hell are you doing here Leo; the sun hasn't even risen yet."

"Furet! I came as fast I could to bid you come with me." Furet wiped at imaginary sleep in his eye, "Come with you where?"

"To Pacifica!" Furet let the pretense of lethargy fall away as her name echoed through his empty apartment. For a moment he felt as though the world had turned back to that dimensionless darkness and the ground was once again falling away from him. When was that dreaded arrow going to strike him down?

"Are you alright?" Furet blinked a few times and refocused on Leo's concerned face. His mouth just wouldn't work to reassure the would-be knight. "It's alright now, you see, I went to go see her and-"

"You didn't tell her I was alive did you!" Furet cut him off. He hadn't thought Leo would do anything so stupid, but then again he hadn't expected him to come back knocking on his door at such an ungodly hour either. "N-no…but I wanted to! You have to go to her Furet, this whole pretense is pathetic she needs you!"

Furet just shook his head solemnly, "We went through this already Leo. She has a new life, free from the fear and the troubles that she had to struggle through before. I won't compromise that just so you can tell her a person she doesn't even remember is alive. No, it is better this way."

"For who Furet, you? You're miserable!"

"What are you talking about? This is the life I chose remember. This is what I left the blackhawks for. It was my choice and I am more than content with it."

"Liar!" Leo's face had become red with... was it rage? Furet had never seen him like this. "You may have been content with this before but its different now isn't it? It's not enough, not after meeting her! She thwarted it didn't she? The meager, narrow little goals you had set yourself crumbled away in the might of what she is, what she showed you, you could be. You won't be happy Furet, can't you see that? You need her."

"Talking from experience are we?" Furet couldn't help the small triumph he felt at the shock that ripped through Leo's face. The boy was getting too close to the truth of things. He had spent too long burying himself into this assured mindset that Pacifica was too far away from him. He couldn't let Leo undo all he had tried to achieve. "You love her Leo, so what the hell are you doing here? Didn't you always say you had to seize the moment and aspire to what you truly desired?"

"Yes but-"

"So then get out of here!" Furet yelled, throwing his hands up dramatically. "You have already rescued your pretty princess in the tower, what are you waiting for? Go live you're happily ever after."

Leo gritted his teeth as his eyes glassed over. "I can't!" he hissed out.

"Why not?"

"Because she is in love with _you!_"

Furet was frozen by Leo's words, his hands still raised in their dramatic and angry motions. He glimpsed that future again through the darkness but this time it seemed almost attainable. Could he really…

"What are you talking about Leo? You said it yourself, she remembers nothing of the time she spent living together. Don't bullshit me." Leo just shook his head sadly; ready to give away the thing that was most precious to him. "She may not be able to remember _exactly_ what happened. But her heart still knows what it feels. She wears a token from you always, she believes it gives her good luck and watches over her." Furet scoffed weakly, "What token?"

"It was a...a bath token from the city!"

He remembered it now. He had asked her to hold onto the bath house key for him because he had forgotten to give it back. That was the last time they had been able to move through the comfort of a normal routine together. "That doesn't mean anything." He replied quietly, knowing himself that he wasn't convincing anyone. Leo took this small sign of weakness and pounced upon it, advancing into the room and stepping up to meet Furet. Despite the difference in size it felt like Leo was dominating over the old soldier. "You know it does. Two nights after she reclaimed her old memories she found that bath token mixed amongst her clothes. Do you know what she did when she found it? She cried Furet. Just like I told you, she cried with every ounce of grief she had and it was all for you! How dare you just sit here in your pathetic attempt at life and pretend as if you had never loved her. She needs you, and you have turned your back on her!"

It was done. The little excuses he had walled himself in with, the belief that he didn't need her anymore in his life, the rationalization that she could not possibly love him the way that he loved her had come undone. The carefully constructed house of lies he had built around his heart came crumbling down with just the hint of hope that Leo was offering him now.

"So, will you come with me now Furet?"

--

**I know, what a disgustingly pathetic little update! But there was really little else to add to this chapter without going too far into the content for the next one. As always, hoped you enjoyed it and please R&R!  
Regards, Eia**


	4. Chapter 3

Furet took a deep breath of the summer-salted air as he tried to rein in his wild thoughts. He shifted in his saddle for what could have possibly been the hundredth time on this journey, never able to make himself completely comfortable no matter how many times he tried. As he sighed out his held breath he allowed his train of thought to settle onto the question, which arrayed all his feelings together. How had he ever allowed it to come to this?

He looked discontentedly to his left where a seemingly chirpy Leo whistled a listless tune under his breath. Furet wanted to strangle the smile out of the young knight's face. How could he have been so stupid as to agree with this useless quest? It was doomed to fail. There was a reason that Pamela could not remember living with him. If subconsciously she had decided to forget him what right did he have to challenge that? None at all, and Leo was only fooling himself with that ridiculous notion of destiny. There was no more destiny in this journey than there are days with green skies. His true destiny had been to die that night to allow the Scrapped Princess to live. Luck had been what spared him and he was a fool to challenge what had already come to pass. Yet he here sat upon his mount, journeying ever closer to Pamela's home. He truly was the king of fools.

"There it is Furet! The turnoff to the homestead." True to Leo's words, a small path made itself visible through the thick foliage, but only briefly. A distracted man might have missed this crucial junction entirely, perhaps a distracted man who did not have such an enthusiastic guide.

Furet reined in his horse at the mouth of the dirt drive and sat still for a moment. It was here that his courage failed him, for it would be easy enough to simply turn around and go back the way he had come. If he was quick he might make it home before it was dark. He could get a hot meal at the bar down the street and perhaps a few ales for good measure. He could stumble home in the true dark of night and pass out in his narrow bunk and forget that he had ever tried to change his fate. It could all be that easy.

"Furet, what are you-"

"I think this is a bad idea after all." He told Leo quietly. "I am sorry for your troubles. When I see you next I shall make it up to you."

As he pulled on the horse's reins to lead him away a firm hand reached out to seize them. Leo had managed to scuffle from his horse and reach Furet's side with surprising speed. The young Knight looked up with an urgency that bellied his movements. "You have come this far Furet. You must at least see her."

He had been so close. Just a few more seconds and he could have been away. Furet sighed in defeat as he let Leo tug his horse forwards and up to Parrabellum's side. He didn't even let go of Furet's reins as he mounted his own steed and kicked him forward. Leo's determination had defeated Furet's will.

Leo only let go of the reins as they rode up to a small barn that sat off the main house. As they both dismounted a young woman came out to meet them. "Leo, what a surprise! I didn't think you would be back so soon after you left so early last time." As her eyes fell to Leo's companion in tow Raquiel grew suddenly still. Furet tensed under her stunned scrutiny. Something of his discomfort must have shown for the woman put on a brave smile and nodded towards him. "And it is also good to see you Furet." To Raquiel's credit, her voice only shook once during that strained sentence. A silence fell over the three gathered outside the barn. Every one of them knew why Leo and Furet had come but none dared to voice the reason out loud. So they stood poised in an awkward silence until at last the one came who could break them free.

"Hey Raquiel where…ah Leo! I can't believe you have the gall to come back here so soon after last time, talk about rude!"

His breath caught in his throat and his palms began to sweat as he tried to keep perfectly still and silent. Her large untamable eyes lifted up to meet with his and he was sure she could see right through him, straight into his soul. Her eyes widened and Furet waited, waited for her to yell, to scream, slap him, chastise him for being late, break out into tears and tell him he had lied when he had promised to come back without a scratch. He waited with such stillness for her to approach him but she didn't. Her bright eyes slid past him without recognition and she turned away from him to face Leo. He began to breathe again, but the air that was sucked into his lungs seemed to burn inside his chest. She didn't know him.

He tried to concentrate on the voices that were echoing in the suddenly thick air around him but he couldn't bring himself into the right mind. This all felt so wrong, what had Leo made him do? It had been tolerable before. He had died that night and left her behind in a different world, that had been the reality he had lived with and it had let him survive just fine. He had been able to carry on as before and everything had been alright. What had he done?

He could feel Raquiel's eyes resting on him in pity, could see Leo glancing back at him as _Pacifica_ lectured him about manners but they couldn't help him now. He had doomed himself.

He blinked as his head filled with a hot fire and turned his gaze away from Leo's questing eyes. That was when he saw it. It jangled at her hip as she threw her arms about dramatically in the air and the sunlight skimmed across its polished surface. As he looked at the small link to the past Furet's mind began to calm. The hot fire that had raged through his lungs and spread through out his body subsided into a dull roar and faded as he breathed out again. He looked at the forgotten bath tag and felt a remembering smile pull at his taut mouth and a laugh rumbled in his throat.

Pacifica turned at the sound and looked at him once again. This time her eyes didn't immediately slide past him, but lingered with a spark of excitement alighting in the azure depths. He found his courage then, and remembered who he was and all that he had been through just to stand here today without restraint. With that reassurance swelling within him, Furet opened his mouth at last to speak.

"It's nice to meet you Pacifica, my name is Furet."

--

**Sorry about taking so long with this short update, but it's getting close to exams so I have been smothered with study duties! Thanks for the reviews, hopefully I won't take so long to update next time! **

**Eia**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Pacifica pushed the mushroom omelet about on her plate absently, stabbing her fork into the soft folds of her favorite dish but not bothering to lift any more up to her mouth, even for the pretense of eating

Pacifica pushed the mushroom omelet about on her plate absently, stabbing her fork into the soft folds of her favorite dish but not bothering to lift any more up to her mouth, even for the pretense of eating. She was aware of the stranger watching her from across the table, but knew if she were to look up his eyes would be set resolutely on the plate before him and he would be chewing his food with a slow concentration, blank face set against her. She knew this without needing to look again, but she also knew that despite his eyes being occupied with studying his food he was watching her acutely from his place before her. She knew that nearly everyone at the dinner table was doing the exact same thing; watching her whilst under the pretense of eating, waiting. But waiting for what?

If she had had any inkling of what it was everyone wanted her to say or do she would have done it in an instant. Anything to get rid of the tense anticipation that hung over them all and prevented anyone from talking. Even Shannon was in on it. She had seen the change in his expression when he had noticed the guest Leo had brought with him. His reaction to this Furet had been the first sign that something was going on. He had looked at the dark stranger and frozen mid-stride. His face had gone pale and then…something odd had happened, something she hadn't been able to interpret. He had smiled with relief.

Pacifica couldn't understand it, upon first seeing this man both her kin had looked so shocked, bordering on fear, and then relief? Anticipation? What was the big secret about this strange man that everyone seemed to know but her? Even Leo understood the situation for pity's sake and he was as dense as a brick wall! They must all know him, but where had they met him before? Why hadn't she been introduced properly or told about him?

Pacifica sighed, letting her thoughts just slide away. She pushed her chair back, the sound of grating wood harsh in the awkward silence that was polluting the air. "I'm finished!" She pronounced with gusto before snatching at everyone's plates to bear them away. Her nose wrinkled as she entered into the kitchen, the room still smelling of char from her first attempts at making dinner. She eyed the burnt out pie that was still sitting on the bench before walking over to the sink and dumping the plates and cutlery into the tub of water. As she began scrubbing furiously at the dirty dishes a light hand tapped her shoulder. "Would you like some help with those Pacifica?"

"Ah! Thank you Racquiel."

They set to their task, side by side at the wash basin. They were silent for a few minutes before Pacifica's curiosity forced her to pry. "Say, Racquiel…can I ask you something?"

"Hmmm." Came the older sister's reply.

"How do you know that man…Furet?"

It was only for a second that her sister froze in shock, but even so Pacifica saw the stillness that came over Racquiel and the small pause before she answered. "Oh, Furet? I met him in the capital with Leo. He helped us out when we were separated from you and Shannon." Pacifica went on in a casual voice. "You mean before Shannon and I found each other and met up with you guys back at that camp?"

"Yes."

"Then how does Shannon know him if that was the first time we saw each other since being separated?" Another tell tale pause. Racquiel wiped her hands shakily with a towel before she turned towards Pacifica with a smile. "Are you feeling a bit cold Pacifica? I think it will be cooler tonight, maybe you should go fetch our guests some extra blankets, just in case it is a bit drafty in the guest's wing!"

"A _bit_ drafty?" Pacifica knew the guest's wing would be more than a _bit_ drafty. The new addition to the home had been added on by Shannon a month ago and it was suffice to say that Shannon's lacking skills in carpentry had seen the extension was a little less sturdy than the rest of the house. On a particularly cool night she could actually hear the wind whistling through the gaps in the foundations all the way from her room.

But even so, she knew when she was being fobbed off but her will to pursue the topic further was being rapidly drained. She nodded in consent before retrieving sheets from the storage room and wondering outside.

Pacifica didn't go directly to the guest's room; instead she took a round about trip into the stables to check on the fowl. He had grown a bit steadier since his birth, managing to stand up to greet her visit with only a small amount of stumbling. She patted his eager head as he snuffed at her hands in search of treats.

"Sorry boy, no carrots tonight."

She played with the fowl a few minutes more, managing to get her emotions into a better temper. What did it matter if everyone already knew this Furet? If there was something important about him that she needed to know then she was sure they would have told her already. Besides, chances were he would leave soon and she would probably never even see him again.

Feeling better about the whole night, Pacifica bent to retrieve the folded spare sheets, endeavoring to make sure she was polite and friendly despite all the turmoil earlier.

She exited the barn, shutting the wooden doors and barring them before making her way towards the guest room. She smoothed out her skirts quickly and tried to tuck a wayward hair back into her ponytail before stepping up to the door. She raised her hand to knock, smile in place, but paused as the sound of urgent voices reached her through the thin wood of the door.

"…can't you just stay the night? If you really want you can leave in the morning." She recognized Leo's protesting voice, only muffled slightly from her vantage point outside the door. "No, I have to go tonight…it is better this way." Pacifica knew she shouldn't eavesdrop, but her curiosity had resurfaced. She moved to the side wall where she knew there was a particularly large gap in the wood and peaked through into the dim light of the room. She had a perfect view of Furet's face. "But for what it is worth Leo, thank you for all you have done. I am glad I came."

"I just don't think it is enough, I thought that when Pacifica saw you she might remember something."

"No, it is enough for me." As she watched Furet through that small crack in the wall a sad smile crept across his lips, but within his eyes there was truly a sign of relief.

"Pacifica what are you doing?" Pacifica whirled around in shock, not realizing how closely she had crept up to the wall to press her face into the peep hole. Her cheeks went red as she realized there was no excuse she could give to cover her eavesdropping. Her embarrassment quickly turned to anger. "Nothing! I haven't even done anything!" She shoved the spare sheets into a bewildered Shannon's arms before storming off.

Shannon just watched her stalk away, face red with rage and embarrassment. He was surprised to find that her reaction hadn't really shocked him at all. She had taken the awkward circumstances of the day pretty well for Pacifica, he thought. But then again, there hadn't really been much that wasn't abnormal in her life for the past few years. Mystery and strange coincidences seemed to follow her around wherever she went. As he turned to take the extra sheets to their strange guests he couldn't help but wonder what kind of powers had mustered in her wake to set him on the path of destiny that had allowed him to save the life of a stranger, who seemed to love his little sister so dearly.

--

Pacifica shifted in her bedding as she tried to let herself fall into the oblivion of sleep. She caressed her wooden good luck charm on the bedside table as if to say goodnight before she relaxed back into her pillow. She was tired, she knew she was tired. Her body was sore from the day's activities and her mind was weary from the miasma of thoughts that had run rampant in her mind. She pushed away the words she had over heard early, and even blocked out the sounds of the stranger readying his horse in the barn beside her room. If she went to sleep tomorrow would be a new day and she could forget all the anxiety she had felt and the visitor would be long gone on his journey home.

Eventually Pacifica did manage to fall asleep as the sounds of a horses hooves riding away from the homestead reached her slumbering ears and entered into her dreams.

_She was in a dark forest where tall trees reached up towards the heavens at an impossible height and blotted out the sky with their foliage, so she couldn't even tell if it were night or day. But it was raining. She could feel the fat drops falling down and pattering all over her. She raised her arms to rub at her cold body, noticing for the first time that she was dressed in a most elaborate gown. There were blood red folds of a heavy skirt falling to the ground in cascades of cloth and little bows with long sleeves and a large broach pinned to the front just above her breast. And she could hear it now, the familiar sound of a horses hooves moving farther and farther away from her, growing fainter by the second. She looked up quickly but the rider was already threading through the trees in the distance and the person was just a shadow amongst their trunks. She went to lift her hands to call out but there was something already in them. She looked down to find she was holding onto a small wooden token wet with rain drops…no wait…not with rain. These droplets were warm, are they tears? _ _**Why am I crying?** _

Pacifica's eyes flew open in shock. She was sitting up in her bed but there was something wrong. Her face was wet and in her hands she clutched her lucky charm, the bath token for…

"Furet!"

Pacifica scrambled out of bed in shock, searching across her dark bedroom floor for her shoes. Her fingers fell upon the hard leather of her boots and she pulled them on fiercely, not bother with the laces. She ran from her room in a panic, bath token still in hand, and made her way to the barn without bothering to be quiet for the other sleeping occupants of the house. She burst into the barn with frantic hands raking at her unkempt hair. She circled around the barn uselessly in indecision. He was already gone, what was she going to do?

A curious mouth began to nuzzle at Pacifica's wet cheeks and she turned with relief to find Parrabellum nudging her as if in encouragement. She moved quickly then, taking down Leo's saddle and strapping it to the docile horses back, evidently unconcerned by the sudden late night activity. As she tightened the cinches and mounted Parrabellum in a most hasteful and ungraceful fashion three confused and tired bodies stumbled into the barn after her. But before any of them could call out to Pacifica she had kicked Parrabellum into a wild canter and was riding off towards the drive at a frantic pace.

Racquiel lifted her hands as if to summon her sibling back by will. She turned to Shannon in worry but he only wore a surprised smile in response. "Where…where is she going?!" Leo turned towards Racquiel, a smile as broad as Shannon's already spreading across his own face. "To meet with destiny."

--

**Very quick update! I kind of didn't stop writing when I finished the last chapter so I managed to get this out in one sitting (the power of a free day!) Enjoy the super quick ** **chapter update!**

**Eia**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The small flames of the campfire were a small comfort in the creeping cold of the night

The small flames of the campfire were a small comfort in the creeping cold of the night. Furet poked at the licking red tongues with a small stick, disturbing the coals in their slumber to release a cast of embers out into the dark night. He watched disjointedly as they soared through the air and fizzled out in the dark.

He had made camp two miles down the road because he had been tired, yet now that he was settled and his small sleeping pallet set up the desire for sleep had fled him. He could feel it was going to be a long night.

Furet lay down on his bedding as his treacherous thoughts returned to her. Pamela…that is, Pacifica had looked well, as loud and narcissistic as he had remembered. But of course she wasn't exactly as he had remembered. She had put on some weight, obviously from the comforts of a stress free and permanent home and the weight had filled out her features and given her a more mature look. Her hair had gotten longer too, and she carried herself a little more uprightly. But those hadn't been the changes that had struck him, for he had always remembered her as the forthright girl that spoke to him with such arrogance and confidence. She had looked at him emboldened with honesty and familiarized with that hint of affection. But she didn't look at him like that anymore, and she had been reserved all through his visit. Unsure and unfamiliar.

If he could have shown Leo the difference in the way that she looked at him perhaps the knight would have understood why he had had to leave that night. Furet suddenly realized that that was what it must have felt like when Leo and Pacifica's family had found out about her amnesia. He felt more sympathetic towards Leo's antics now. But they were doing things very differently; he was not as foolhardy perhaps.

"She looked happy." Furet spoke the words to the empty night as if it were his companion. "I don't know if seeing her so content is going to make moving on harder or easier." He sighed, pushing that slither of loneliness down into the depths of his heart where he thought no one might find it. It was over; he had to go on now. He wasn't going back anymore. He would move on to a different town, far away where no one new his name. He would start again as someone different; he would become just another strange ex-soldier disappearing into the overwhelming intensity of a new town. He would try to live anonymously once more. And this time it would work, for there was no scrapped princess that would come to him from the sea and steal his heart away.

Furet tried to suppress the smile that came over his lips as he remembered the dazed look Pacifica had turned on him when he had found her. _"Do you know who I am?"_ He had told her no, but in truth his heart had recognized her the moment their eyes had met. She had never been a stranger to him. And with that treacherous thought singing through his mind, Furet drifted off to sleep and dreamt of beaches and lost love.

--

"Dammit Furet where the hell are you!?" Pacifica's voice shook with unbridled emotion as she looked frantically about her. She had ridden at top speed all the way down the trail until she had reached the outskirts of town but still she had not found him. If he had made it to the town before her she knew that he would be long gone. It would take her days, perhaps even weeks to search the city over and even then there was no guarantee she would find him. But she had hoped that he wouldn't have gotten that far, he had no reason to ride with such haste. So she had reined Parrabellum in and gone back the way she had come but with less speed. Perhaps she had overtaken him or he had camped for the night? There was still a chance that she could find him.

But that had been hours ago and the sky was already lightening from the deep black of true night. Dawn couldn't be more than an hour or two away and she was still riding about without direction. Her hope was dwindling. Pacifica's numb fingers let Parrabellum's rein's slide from her hands as tears began to smart in her eyes. She took a deep breath to dispel them but it only broke into a sob and they steadily began to fall. "You jerk! Where have you run away to now? Don't you realize I am looking for you?!"

She could feel Parrabellum twitch in agitation and slid from his back ungracefully. She buried her face in the horse's warm neck as she howled in fear. What if she couldn't find him? Would that be it? Would he just disappear out of her life believing until the end of his days that she didn't know him anymore, that she didn't still care for him? Had she truly lost him all over again?

"Idiot!" She pushed off from Parrabellum's side and kicked out at a stubborn rock at the side of the path. Unsatisfied, she then bent down and rent a small patch of wild flowers from the earth viciously and threw them off of the precipice towards the lightening sky. But her anger was still there, mingling with her sadness as she cried openly till her throat was dry and stamped her foot angrily at the ground. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with her grief, Pacifica might have noticed how the edge of the path shook hazardously with each stamp of her foot. But as it was she didn't notice the small section of the rock face breaking away until she was falling forwards with it.

She raised her hands to brace for the fall but she began to tumble down the slope on her side. Her body caught on jutting stones and sprouting shrubs tore at her skin and clothes. She stuck out her leg in a desperate bid to slow her momentum but it caught in a snag and threw her forwards to crash head first onto the hard ground.

She lay still, trying not to move as her body screamed in pain. She wasn't sure how long she lay still, too afraid to move, but eventually she felt a soft wet nose nuzzle at her grazed cheek in concern. "Parrabellum…" her voice croaked as she opened her eyes to the nuzzling horse. She lifted a shaky hand to pat at his nose reassuringly as she tested her limbs cautiously. "I don't think anything is broken but…" Pacifica's body ached from the fall and the small cuts on her skin stung as the wind blew past her body.

With Parrabellum's help she managed to haul her aching body upright. She wobbled on unsteady legs before she reached out to hold onto the saddle for support. As Pacifica opened her eyes fully she realized that she was looking at the world from two fragmented views. Her left eye saw the world drenched in red and the vision mingled until she wasn't sure what was shadows or what was real. "Parrabellum help me." She whispered. Her body was just so sore, was she dead? Or perhaps she was still dreaming in bed. She couldn't grasp onto a thought properly and the world felt disjointed from where she stood. Yet there was still an urgency beating in her ears.

She stumbled forward to seize Parrabellum's reins and began to lead him blindly forward. As she trekked ahead endlessly through the foreign woods Pacifica batted at the low hanging branches while her feet led her along an unknown path. She hadn't the wit to stop and think of what she was doing, she just kept moving forward. She felt if she sat down now she might never get back up and there was something she was looking for…something she didn't want to lose still out there.

She walked unsteadily onwards in vein until something flickered across her dazed vision. She blinked the blood and tears from her eyes and tried to find it again. There it was! Through the trees a small ways ahead she thought she could see a light in the distance. Was it home? She didn't know. But with little else to bear her she turned towards it faithfully and followed it through the darkened trees. Perhaps it was a wraith leading her to her doom; perhaps it was simply a figment of her imagination in this nightmare that she was stuck in. But whatever it was it gave her hope and she began to quicken her stumbling pace.

Pacifica let go of the reins as she stepped into the circle of light. The warmth that washed over her felt too good to be real. She was dreaming, that was it. And as in dreams one only has to wish for something and it was bound to come true. She smiled wistfully and closed her eyes at the thought. _That means I can be with Furet now at last._ When she opened her eyes again it was with a slow anticipation. She glanced around the small clearing until her eyes fell upon the object of her desire. His face was illuminated by the soft light of the fires gaze; he looked so peaceful as he slept. Was he having a good dream? Or were they simply sharing the same one?

Pacifica's cheeks grew warm with tears as she crept forwards across the clearing. Her heart wrenched with the sight of her beloved sleeping so serenely before her, she almost believed she could reach out and touch him. But her fingers shook as she raised them and they hovered just above his sleeping form in agony. "But this is only a dream," She whispered in despair, "and soon I will awaken."

--

Something was tugging at him from his slumber, something that didn't belong in his world of dreams. There was a hot sensation sliding across his cheek, something wet that was reawakening his sense of touch. He pulled from the blissful unconsciousness reluctantly, desperate to hold onto the tendrils of that happy dream. But there was something else other than the wetness on his cheek that screamed at him to be alert. A scuffle near him alerted Furet to a presence as his old habits of the well honed soldier kicked in. His eyes shot open as a hand reached down towards him. He reached forward to intercept it before twisting the body that loomed above him down until he had a defensive hold on them. He held the foreign body beneath him as he shook his head to rid himself of the last tendrils of sleep. Then he froze.

He looked down beneath him and his heart began to beat faster. This couldn't be right, he must still be dreaming. How treacherous of his conscious to trick him thus. But as he stayed in that frozen disbelieving position a small pale hand reached out to stroke his cheek with the touch of assured reality. "Pacifica?'

She smiled up at him with a dreamy smile as his own tears fell down onto her cheek to mingle with her own. As the tears splashed onto her skin her eyes lit up with a sudden awakening, as if she had been asleep all along. "Furet?" her voice shook with uncertainty but he thought his heart might still break from the strength of that one word. He reached down to wipe the blood from her eye and as she blinked away to a clear gaze he gathered her into his arms. Within that word and those eyes he had seen the familiarity he had thought lost so long ago.

--


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The sun had risen with a fierce veracity as if the day were a challenge

The sun had risen with a fierce veracity as if the day were a challenge. The summer rays had dispelled the cool morning air but neither of them seemed to really notice. They walked forward together, their two mounts in tow. As their feet scuffed along the ground in unison they both felt a laugh rising in their throats, but they didn't let it out. Not yet.

Pacifica pushed at the bandage on her forehead irritably instead. "Ah! This bandage is so itchy!" She whined. "Don't touch it so much! It wouldn't so bad if you didn't fiddle with it all the time." Furet chastised. Pacifica dropped Parrabellum's reins in frustration as she pointed an accusing finger at Furet. "You obviously didn't tie it right if it irritates me this much! Your first aid skills are lousy."

Furet stared at her incredulously for a moment, silent in the shock before he responded. "Well if you aren't satisfied with the first aid jobs offered to you then you shouldn't wonder around the wild lands at night with a bloodied forehead. Idiot." Pacifica didn't see the small smile that pulled his lips taught as he rebuked her, as she strutted forward in her ruffled nightgown to confront him. "Well if you weren't so stubborn I wouldn't have had to ride around _all_ night long looking for you! And another thing, how dare you-"

Pacifica's next words were swallowed by Furetas he placed his mouth over her complaining lips. As his lips brushed against hers gently and retreated from the hasty kiss a silence fell over the quarrelling pair. The usual solemnity of Furet's gaze softened as he looked down upon Pacifica's blushing cheeks. "Thank you Pacifica." Forgetting the embarrassment from her first kiss Pacifica reached out and took Furet's hand in her own. The skin on the inside of his palms was calloused while the skin on top was a sun kissed golden complexion. His fingers were so long they engulfed her own pale hand within their folds, but it still felt like the perfect fit to her. She looked up him with a smile, "That will be your highness to you."

They both let free the laugh that had been slumbering in their chests as they walked hand in hand back to the homestead, both feeling the greatest amount of gratitude for fate having given their love a second chance.

--

**I want to thank everyone for their support of this fanfiction, I had a lot of fun writing it and hope you had just as much fun reading it. My regards for the last time!**

**Eia**


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